On Thursday, I thought I had the flu and on Friday it turned into an awfully sore throat and congestion in my throat and nose. During this time of feeling awful and being sick, I was planning my upcoming weekend in London. I had already confirmed the hostel and bought the train ticket, so I didn't really care how I felt, I was going to London! I packed a little on Friday evening and set my alarm for 6:00am so I would have plenty of time to finish getting ready before my 7:13am train. Once my coughing finally subsided, I was able to get a few hours of sleep. Before I knew it, I got woken up by my phone, although it wasn't my alarm going off! One of my friends I was planning on meeting up with before walking to the train station called and asked me if I was almost ready. It was a few minutes after 7:00am and I was still in bed!!!! This was not a good start to my trip. I frantically got dressed and throw some essentials in my backpack. I then realized I wasn't going to make it and slowed down a little. I met up my friends who consequently also missed the train due to a miscommunication. We then had to buy a new ticket which costed about the same as my original roundtrip fare. So, yet another great start to my trip!
Once we arrived at Paddington Station in London we decided to walk (instead of taking the tube) to our hostel and drop off our bags instead of carrying them around all day. We got outside and it started to pour (which really shouldn't surprise me anymore but...I'm still hoping one day I'll wake up and it will be sunny out!) and of course silly me, I forgot an umbrella. We finally found our hostel and proceeded to find out we didn't have a reservation! I guess after they confirm your reservation they can also decline it! So at that point we were wet and had no place to sleep, but my opinion was that we were in London so we should tour around and everything would work out in the end, as it always does.
So, we boarded the tube and went to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards. By the time we got there the crowds were beginning to assemble. Since it was raining there were some many umbrellas overtaking the area. While we were waiting I happened to get a bloody nose! Luckily, some of the other tourists around me offered me tissues :) A few minutes later, the soldiers in their funny hats came marching in through the gates. A few of them switched places and we thought the ceremony was over because nothing much was happening, later we found out that the changing of the guards was canceled because of the rain and wasn't going to happen again till Monday. From the palace we walked around the streets of Victoria to scout out a place to stay the night. We didn't have much luck, but someone gave us a few recommendations of areas to look. We boarded the tube and went to Piccadilly Circus to have a look. As soon as we got there and walked a few blocks, we got a call from the people we were going to meet up with saying they found a hotel in Earls Court, it was expensive, but split between seven of us it wasn't going to be too bad. By the time we got to Earls Court the plan had changed and they found something in the Bayswater area (back around where the original hostel was located, I recommend looking at a map of London to understand the rat race we went on). We got there and checked out the room they already booked. The three of us decided to find a second room instead all squeezing into one room and sleeping on the floor. We got a pretty decent deal a few doors down from the other group's hotel. It was a large room with four beds and its own bathroom (shower and toilet) it also included a free breakfast (the next morning we found out our free breakfast included tea/coffee and toast, I wasn't expecting much, but I was expecting more than toast). We finally dropped our bags, grabbed a quick snack and headed to the westminster area.
When we exited the tube station, I was in awe! The view was magnificent, absolutely breathtaking, by far one of my most favorite parts of London. I looked out and saw the Eye of London across the river and Big Ben was straight in front of me. We walked a little ways down and saw Westminster Abbey and walked across the bridge to get a better look at the Houses of Parliament. Then we took the tube (you can take the tube everywhere, it is a fantastic system) to London Bridge. London Bridge is nothing really special, but standing on London Bridge looking onto Tower Bridge is a fantastic view. Tower Bridge is so unique looking, I just look at it and think 'London.' We walked along the river to get a closer view of the bridge and then traveled back to area where our hotel was in to find a pub for dinner. I ate a delicious lamb and mint pie and had a pint of ale (I am becoming a big fan of ale). Later, we decided to grab some dessert at the local Mickey D's and had a lovely encounter with a crazy homeless guy. He decided to take a nap on the floor until the medics arrived, he then promptly decided we was not longer dead/tired? The experience was weird to say the least! That concluded day one, we went back to the room and I attempted to fall asleep, but instead had a coughing fit for a few hours...super fun. I finally feel asleep and had one of the best night's sleep I had since arriving in England, the mattress at the somewhat sketchy hotel was more comfortable than my bed at uni!
The next morning began with my very filling breakfast of toast. We then went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and dropped off our bags for a few hours (I don't think that is the intention of the cloakroom, but it was free. Fair enough, we checked out some of the museum before we headed out for a few hours). Then, we took a very scenic route through some residential parts of London to get to Harrods. Harrods is the most amazing department store I have ever been to! It probably fills up about a block and has absolutely everything you could every imagine and then more. My favorite rooms where the food rooms, more specifically the chocolate room. It was beautiful and everything looked so yummy (probably because all I had eaten so far was some toast). I think there were something like twenty-two bars/cafes/restaurants in the store. There were even multiple gift shops throughout the store. My question is who actually goes into Harrods to do everyday/general shopping because everything is extremely overpriced.
We then went back to the museum to collect our bags and checked out some more exhibits. Then, we took the tube back to the Piccadilly area and eat a late lunch in Chinatown. I have been to other chinatowns before, but I have never eaten in one (maybe I have eaten in the one in D.C. but I can't remember), so I was pretty excited. The food was really good, although you had to pay additional for a side of rice and the portions were smaller than I expected. After lunch, we explored the Piccadilly area a bit more and slowly made our way to Trafalgar Square. This was a very impressive area with many monuments and statues. At this point it was beginning to get cold and we were getting tired after two very long days, but we booked our train for 11pm so we still had hours to kill. Next time I will spend a few more pounds and buy a flex ticket that allows you to take the train at any time. To kill some time we went to Oxford Street and walked around, but all the shops were already closed. Then, we attempted to find the Globe Theater by London Bridge, but failed! It was rather dark out, so we were hesitant to take small roads/ally ways. Finally, we went to Waterloo and had a nice view of the other side of the Eye of London. At this point we traveled back to Paddington Station, grabbed some dinner and waited around for our train. We managed to cover a lot of ground over the weekend trip.
All in all it was a very fun weekend, but it was very long and tiring. My feet hurt so much by Sunday night! I am not sure if I will be able to handle a trip every weekend, I may have to travel every other weekend. It just feels like since I am in another country, I should see everything! I plan on going back to London at some point to see a show and do some other things that I didn't get to do this time around. I feel as though I have a much better idea of the city now compared to a few days ago. I really liked London, it was different from any city I have ever been to. I think my favorite part was how distinctively different each area was. So my first weekend trip began a bit bumpy but turned into a success. I have learned so much for the next trip, I just need to decide where it will be! I am thinking Dublin or Wales.
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